Hiding Behind The Truth
by Black Butterflyz
Summary: Jesse decides to play mathcmaker and get Brennan & Shalimar together and enlists Emma's help. But what he doens't know is that Emma has feelings for Brennan too! Finally an update! Chapter 4 has landed.
1. Conversations With Emma

Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X, okay?  
  
Chapter 1: Conversations With Emma  
  
Morning. Jesse & Emma.  
  
Jesse sat in front of the computer and keyed in the details Adam had told him to search for. The search was taking a while and Jesse began to get bored, until Emma came up to him.  
  
"Hey, Jesse. What are you doing?" she asked, sitting down next to him.  
  
"I'm searching for this lost guy. He's a new mutant and Adam thinks he might be in danger from the GSA."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't know," Jesse admitted. "Adam went back into the lab before I could ask him properly. Oh, Emma, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."  
  
"What is it?" Emma said.  
  
"Well, I've been thinking that Shalimar needs someone. You know, a boyfriend."  
  
"So, do you like know someone you want to set her up with and want me to talk it over with her?" Emma wondered.  
  
"Sort of. You know him too."  
  
"Who?" Emma asked, intrigued.  
  
"Brennan," Jesse said.  
  
Emma's eyes flew open, but managed to regain herself before Jesse noticed anythin was wrong. "Uh..."  
  
"What do you think?" Jesse asked oblivious to Emma's true feelings for Brennan.  
  
Of course he was oblivious, Emma hadn't let anyone find out. She hadn't even told Shalimar, whom she had become closest to out of all the Mutant X members. Plus, she and Jesse hadn't really become that close. After Shalimar, she was then close to Brennan, - seeing as how they were both 'new' members of Mutant X at the same time - then Adam and finally, Jesse. "Well...do you really think that they should...youknow, get together."  
  
"Well, Brennan likes her. He told me."  
  
"Oh," Emma said getting crushed further by the second, but refusing to let her feelings shown.  
  
"I was just wondering whether Shalimar liked him. Did she tell you anything?"  
  
Emma just shook her head.  
  
"I just wanted to ask you to help me get them together."  
  
"Oh...right."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Uh...Jesse, I - I have to go..." Emma blurted, before stumbling out of the room.  
  
Jesse was a little worried, but just assumed she was feeling sick.  
  
Afternoon. Brennan & Emma.  
  
"Hey Emma!" Brennan said as he saw her appearing out from her room.  
  
"Oh...hi." Emma said. This was the first time she came out of her room since the morning and he definately wasn't the person she'd wanted to see straight away.  
  
"We missed you at lunch. Jesse said you were sick. Are you feeling better?"  
  
"Um...not really, to tell the truth. My stomach still hurts."  
  
"Oh. Why don't you rest, because tomorrow I think Adam wants us to search for this new mutant. We'll need you."  
  
"Yeah." Emma whispered.  
  
"Okay," Brennan smiled. "See you later," he said and placed his hand on her shoulder gently before walking away.  
  
Emma stood still until she could no longer see him at all. Which meant she saw him meeting Shalimar and them walking together into the kitchen. Brennan likes Shalimar...the words kept playing over in her head acting like some kind of dynamite making her head explode. Emma couldn't find the strength in her legs to move back inside her room until she heard Adam coming near. And this time, she only managed to move because she didn't want anyone to see her cry.  
  
Nighttime. Shalimar & Emma.  
  
"Come in," Shalimar said in reply to the knock on her door.  
  
Emma walked inside and closed the door afterwards.  
  
"Oh hi, Emma."  
  
"Hey," Emma whispered.  
  
"How are you?"  
  
"Um...okay," Emma lied.  
  
"Did you want something?"  
  
"Uh...yeah," Emma admitted and took a deep breath before she let out her question, "Do you like Brennan?"  
  
"Oh." Shalimar said. She stayed quiet for a while before nodding and dashing Emma's last hope with, "Yeah. I do. How did you know?" she added. Emma didn't say anything at first, prompting Shalimar to realise and ask, "Did you read my mind?"  
  
"No. I just wondered..."  
  
"Sorry, I was gonna tell you. I guess you must have realised already, though."  
  
'Uh...yeah."  
  
"I just don't know of he does. Hey, could you like read his mind or something?" Shalimar asked, brightening.  
  
"Well..." Emma breathed, "I don't think that'll be necessary."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Oh, um, I think he does."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Uh...Jesse told me."  
  
"He did?!" Shalimar exclaimed. "Oh...wow."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"This is so...I don't even know what to say!"  
  
"Well, um, I'll see you tomorrow, then, Shalimar."  
  
"Oh, you're gonna go to bed, then?"  
  
"Yeah. What about you?"  
  
'Well, it's kinda late, so I probably should, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna fall asleep. Hey, is there anything else you wanna talk about?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Okay. G'night Emma."  
  
"G'night."  
  
End of Chapter 1. A/n: What do you think? 


	2. The Newest new Mutant

A/N: Sorry, for the delay, been very busy haven't had time to sit down at the computer without having to do other actual work. I'm not giving away what is going to happen with the couplings - you'll just have to read it till the end, and no, It's not going to be some major long epic full of self-pity and so on (so if you're into really deep angst, I'm telling you straight, this story isn't really for you). But it's not going to be very long because I want to keep it short and Emma-focused and I don't see the point in dragging it out if I just want to make a small point. So If you've bothered to read up to here, you might as well read the whole thing and if you do that then you've gotta review it!  
  
Chapter 2: The 'Newest' New Mutant  
  
Emma walked down the stairs to the main part of the Sanctuary after having spent the whole of last night curled up in bed with terrible nightmares about Brennan and Shalimar. The only reason she came down so late today was because she didn't want to come out and find any of those disgusting things to be true. Yes, she did love them both and therefore wanted them to be happy. But she didn't understand why they had to love each other as more than good friends or why Brennan couldn't be happy with her. What was wrong with her? was the question that appeared most frequently in her mind. She looked around and couldn't see anyone. Everything was very quiet. 'That's a good thing' she told herself, 'it means that they're not...' Okay, she totally wasn't going there. But something else started to bother her...it was too quiet.  
  
Emma sent her senses out and couldn't find anyone in their rooms. For a moment she couldn't find anyone anywhere in the Sanctuary until..."Adam!"  
  
"Emma, finally," he said running up to her as she opened her eyes.  
  
"Adam, what's going on? There's no one else here."  
  
"I know, I sent Jesse, Brennan and Shalimar on a mission to find a new mutant. His name is also Adam, he's fourteen, but by some accident just received new mutant abilities and his body system is acting up. We need to bring him here for me to stabilize him before his system works up."  
  
"What happens if they don't bring him in time?" Emma asked, genuinely concerned and forgotten her self-pity.  
  
"Well, that depends too. The GSA could find him before we get him, which would be very bad for him. Also, the dose administered on him was very strong. And I have reason to believe that if he is not found - at the rate his body is mutating - he could just explode."  
  
"Oh my God!"  
  
"Emma, I think you and I better get in the car and go and help them. We can contact them on the plane from inside there."  
  
Emma nodded in agreement and the two ran out of the Sanctuary.  
  
*  
  
"Emma? Where are you?" a voice came out of her comlink.  
  
"At the fire escape," she whispered, back into hers.  
  
"Okay." the voice came. "Okay, I see you. Stay there while I locate Brennan and Shalimar."  
  
"Okay, Jesse." Emma tried to hold back her mind from thinking rather of what they might possibly be doing wherever they were. She had to stay focused. They had to save this Adam, before he got hurt.  
  
"Adam! Adam wait!" Emma heard Jesse's voice. It sounded slightly faint and she realized that it was because he still had his comlink on but wasn't talking to her. She knew that their Adam was waiting for them in the plane. That meant the Adam he was talking to was the boy they were looking for. Emma leapt into action and ran towards the entrance of the alley she was in. She looked down the road and saw Jesse had run down the building he had been standing on, and was running after a tall, but young-looking boy. Emma didn't have to think to know who that was and ran after them.  
  
As the race went on she knew they needed help so she called into her comlink without stopping. "Brennan? Shalimar?"  
  
"We hear you Emma," Shalimar voice back. "Where are you? And what happened to Jesse?"  
  
As the 'We' that started that sentence played in her mind Emma pushed it out and said, "We've found Adam but he's running away. Call Adam and tell him to come with the plane."  
  
Shalimar agreed and Emma finally slowed down, tired. She closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching out to find Adam even though she had only seen a picture of him this morning and a glimpse of his back just now. It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be to find him - his tortured soul was practically crying out to be taken. She used her mind to make him calm down and slow down and very soon she heard Jesse reach him. They weren't far away and she managed to reach them soon.  
  
"Thanks," Jesse mumbled.  
  
"No problem," she replied. Seconds later, Adam crumpled to the ground in a faint.  
  
"We have to get him to the plane," Jesse said, trying to pick him up.  
  
"Where is Adam?" Emma said.  
  
"Right here."  
  
"Jesse, you know that's not the Adam I mean! Shalimar said she'd call him."  
  
"I'm here," Adam said, appearing from behind them. "The plane is just behind there, I couldn't bring it any closer." He bent down and also tried to pick the other Adam up. Then he said, "Jesse help me get him to the plane. Emma go get Shalimar and Brennan, I think they are in that second alleyway."  
  
"Okay," she nodded. She jogged up into the second alley and turned in, to see Brennan and Shalimar, kissing by that fire escape. In Emma's eyes they weren't just kissing, it looked like they were making out or groping each other or something. something she didn't wan them to. She took a step back and accidentally, stepped on a can, distracting them from, ahem, 'whatever they were doing'.  
  
"Emma," Brennan said, seeming slightly surprised.  
  
"We got Adam. Adam says to come back to the plane," she mumbled, not bothering to elaborate on the Adams. She ran back to the plane, without waiting for them and she didn't look either one in the face the whole journey back to the Sanctuary, instead pretending to be interested in looking after the injured Adam. 


	3. Shockwave

Emma sat by the bed that new mutant, Adam lay sleeping in. She had told Adam that she would look after the fourteen-year old simply because it meant she had a valid excuse for not having to go out and face everyone after what she saw Shalimar and Brennan kissing. She didn't even want to admit to herself that it meant there wasn't going to be a chance for her and Brennan. Even if (as she hoped) they broke up it would be weird for her to date Brennan after he had had a relationship with Brennan. No matter how mad she was at Shalimar at the moment, she still loved her as part of her family and wouldn't be able to do something like that to her.  
  
She looked down on the boy, who still hadn't woken up. He was very tall with dark hair that was long at the front. The brown of his hair reminded her of the Adam she knew, but after that the comparisons stopped. Even though this Adam was very many years younger than the one she knew, she still couldn't imagine him growing up to look like him. Although in another fourteen years she could image Adam looking like Brennan if he spiked his hair up...'Stop!' she told herself and refused to think of Brennan anymore. He was the reason she had locked herself up in this room while everyone else went out.  
  
And if she had locked the door and everyone else had gone out...how come she could hear the door opening behind her. She started to turn around slowly, bracing herself for danger, when she heard a voice say, "Emma?"  
  
"Jesse."  
  
"Hey. Sorry, if I scared you, but I knew where the key was and I didn't want to knock incase I woke you or him."  
  
"It's okay. How come you came back before the others."  
  
"Well, Adam's having the time of his life now he's met some old girlfriend and they're getting it on really well. Brennan and Shalimar were really just too engrossed in each other to have time for me, if you know what I mean."  
  
"Oh..." Emma did have a pretty good idea of what he meant, but tried unsuccessfully to block out the images that began to form in her mind.  
  
"So how is he?" Jesse asked, gesturing to the Adam lying on the bed.  
  
"Oh, he's..." before Emma could answer Adam began to wake-up slowly. Then suddenly he began to shake hard. "Oh my god!"  
  
Jesse ran round to the other side and felt his forehead. "He feels incredibly cold but he's sweating like mad."  
  
"Shall we take him downstairs?"  
  
"We better." Jesse carried the boy in his arms and Emma ran down ahead to get the mat out and ready in the lab.  
  
When Jesse came and laid him down on the mat, Emma started pressing buttons to get a reading on his condition.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Jesse asked.  
  
"His body is working up again. It seems like what Adam to him earlier wasn't enough."  
  
"What should we do? Do you know how to do that thing Adam did?"  
  
"No," Emma admitted, "but I can stabilize him until Adam gets back."  
  
"Okay, I already sent a message."  
  
"Good, you just have to stand back while I -"  
  
Before Jesse had time to move, the boy gave a shout and shook, harder than he had before and his hand thumped Jesse on the side of his head. In seconds, the boy had fallen back onto the mat (still shaking) and Jesse had fallen to the ground, but not before Emma had noticed some blue energy - not unlike the kind Brennan sent out - transfer from the boy's hand to Jesse's head.  
  
Emma ran over to Jesse who was already starting to stir, making calm down a little bit knowing it couldn't be that serious. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I think so.my head really hurts though. What did he do to me?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think he might have transferred some of his powers to you?"  
  
Jesse groaned as Emma helped him sit down on a bench. "Do we know what his power is?"  
  
Emma shook his head. "But it sort of looked like some kind of energy.like Brennan's," forcing herself to say the name without it sounding anything but normal.  
  
"Well, if this is how Brennan feels when he uses his powers, then I really feel sorry for him."  
  
"Hmm.does it still hurt?" Emma asked.  
  
"Very much," Jesse groaned.  
  
"Then, maybe he just zapped you with an energy bolt. If he transferred energy powers like Brennan's I don't see why your head should hurt."  
  
"Maybe your right," Jesse said. Two seconds later, his head dropped and he passed out.  
  
Emma took two steps back. She was so freaked out, by what just happened that she felt like screaming. Jesse was passed out on the bench and Adam was convulsing on the mat. A shout came out, but not from Emma - it was from Adam who's strangled cry only made Emma more scared. She ran out of the lab and when she heard a noise upstairs she shouted, "Adam?! Adam, are you there?" She didn't even take a millisecond to breathe before she added, "Help me!"  
  
"Emma?" a male voice said. She then heard footsteps running down the stairs and began to calm down until she saw who it really was, when her heart began to beat out of control.  
  
"Brennan?"  
  
"Hey, Adam sent me. He and Shalimar are on their way."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
They heard a scream again from inside the lab. "What was that?"  
  
Now, Emma went back to the way she was feeling when she had first run out of the lab. "That Adam, is shaking so much and I don't know how to make him stop - I tried something but it didn't work and then he did something to Jesse and now Jesse's passed out and - "  
  
"Ssh," Brennan interrupted. "It's okay, Emma, calm down, calm down." Brennan got closer to her and hugged her.  
  
Before Emma knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Emma felt Brennan's hand brushing through her hair and for a moment she actually managed to forget everything except for him. Then, it all came rushing back, especially the images of Brennan and Shalimar together. It was these images that made Emma back away from Brennan fast and then become uncomfortable because she didn't know what to say. She didn't want to say anything until she saw he seemed like he was going to say something - and she didn't want to let him ask her why she had moved back, in case she started crying, like she had yesterday and started pouring everything out.  
  
"We better go check on Jesse and Adam." And with that Emma ran back into the lab.  
  
Brennan followed Emma inside soon but didn't mention anything about what had happened, which she was grateful for. She pressed some more buttons on the computer to help Adam while Brennan checked Jesse's pulse. "He seems to be doing okay. His pulse is normal."  
  
"That's good."  
  
Brennan walked up beside her, and Emma found it hard concentrating on what she was supposed to do.  
  
"Uh." Emma struggled to think of an excuse, and was given one when Adam started to pull against his restraints. "Can you complete the sequence, Brennan while I hold him down? I've already initiated it." Brennan nodded and she went over to the mat and used all her strength to hold Adam down.  
  
A few moments later Brennan said, "It's complete," although Emma could already tell since Adam wasn't resisting so much. Emma quickly checked his pulse and then walked over to wait by Jesse, rather than Brennan. Once she did this, she noticed something. "Brennan," she called, "I think he's getting up."  
  
And she was right for at that moment Jesse bean to move on his side a little as if he was trying to get up. Then, he opened his eyes.  
  
"Hey," Brennan said, coming over and both he and Emma helped Jesse to sit up.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Emma asked.  
  
"Better. But I had this weird dream. And.I think I know what power Adam has?"  
  
"How do you know?" Brennan wondered.  
  
"When I was asleep, I was in this weird trance, like almost dreaming, but not quite asleep. I can't explain it more than that, but when I was there I started wondering about Adam and I had these visions like I was reading his mind."  
  
"So, you think he has powers like Emma?" Brennan asked.  
  
Jesse nodded, while Emma tried to shrug off the feeling she had from the way he said her name. "I just.I can't control it," Jesse managed to choke out before he grabbed Emma's arm and clutched his head as if in pain with his other hand. He soon came out of it and took deep, heavy breaths.  
  
They heard a sound from outside and Brennan said, "That must be Shalimar and Adam. I'll go call them." He jogged out, leaving Emma and Jesse alone.  
  
"You should rest," Emma instructed, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jesse asked, ignoring what she had just said.  
  
"Tell you what?" she said, suddenly scared.  
  
"That was your mind I just read. You like Brennan." 


	4. Crossover

Emma reached in the fridge for a can of soda. She hadn't had anything since she went to bed yesterday after she'd told Adam that she thought she'd got sick again. Of course, Jesse knew she wasn't sick. And she knew he was smart enough to realise that she had never been sick – well, not physically anyway. It sounded quiet upstairs so she thought she'd be able to go back to her room without meeting anyone. However, when she slammed the fridge closed, she came face to face with the second person she'd most not wanted to see.  
  
"Jesse. Hi," Emma stuttered. "I didn't here you."  
  
"I didn't think so."  
  
"Um, How are you now?"  
  
"Okay. You? Feeling better?" He asked sarcastically.  
  
"Fine," she squeaked.  
  
Jesse folded his arms. "You could have told me, you know."  
  
Emma thought about playing dumb, but decided against it. "I didn't want to," she said sullenly.  
  
"Didn't Shalimar know that you – "  
  
"No," Emma said quickly, not allowing Jesse to finish his sentence. She was lucky she didn't because at that moment the first person she most not wanted to see appeared. Brennan.  
  
"Hey guys," he said. "How are you feeling Emma?"  
  
"Fine," she said and moved far out of the way so he could get to the fridge and more.  
  
"Did Jesse tell you that the mutant kid Adam woke up? He's talking to Adam right now," Brennan said.  
  
"Oh?" she replied and seized her opportunity to get away. "Well I better go see them then."  
  
"There's no rush," Jesse said. "Why do you have to go so fast?"  
  
"Well you know. The telepathy thing," Emma muttered and ran.  
  
*  
  
"Hello Emma," Adam Kane smiled. "Feeling alright now?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Then there's someone I'd like you to meet. Emma this is Adam. Adam, Emma," he said after leading her to the boy sitting on the table.  
  
He smiled at her and she smiled back. And tried not think about how his eyes were the same colour as Brennan's, and that they both had the same kind of smile and the same dark messed up hair and...  
  
"I'll be back in a minute – I have to make a phone call," Adam said. Emma supposed it was to the woman who he had met with earlier, so she didn't say anything.  
  
And so Emma was left alone with fourteen-year-old Adam who was actually quite hot (in this author's opinion) only Emma was too busy to notice.  
  
"So," he said.  
  
"So," she echoed. After a few more minutes of silence Emma decided that she should be the one to talk since he had been through much more than she had (if instant mutation didn't hurt more than a broken heart than she was only left with waxing on the list she had drawn up). However, she had no idea what to say (for some reason, 'So, how does it feel to be a mutant?' kept springing to mind). She didn't have to worry about it for much longer.  
  
"Adam said that you are a telepath too," the boy said.  
  
"Yes!" she exclaimed so loudly that he raised his eyebrows at her. "I am," she nodded coming back to a certain degree of normalcy. "Have you actually tried your powers properly yet?"  
  
He shook his head hard. "It still kind of freaks me out, actually."  
  
"Well," Emma said and sat down on the table opposite him so they were level, "I guess it's only natural that you should feel that way. But this ain't no comic book. You'll get used to it."  
  
"What's it like for you? I mean you were born with your powers, right?"  
  
"Yes. Well, being born with them meant they were always a part of me so as I grew, so did they. It just felt normal to me. The hardest thing with using your powers is control. Once you can control them, you'll be fine."  
  
"I'm kind of a slow-learner," he confessed.  
  
Emma laughed. "It'll definitely take longer for you, but only because you're older than most mutants when they get they're powers."  
  
"So everybody who has it is born with it, except with me? Guess, I'm some kind of freak of nature."  
  
"We're all freaks of nature in *their * eyes," Emma told him.  
  
"I guess. But then that would make me the freakiest of all the freaks."  
  
Emma shook her head. "Do you really think of it that way? Because it is actually a gift."  
  
"I know, I know," Adam said. "I've always wanted some cool super-human power. It's just I know everyone thinks of it that way. Even people I know."  
  
"It's kind of a policy here to leave behind people who don't accept you for who you are," Emma told him. Adam laughed. "What?"  
  
"Sounds like the kind of thing it says in my sister's magazines." Adam shrugged. "You know, I kind of want to see her again. Never thought I could miss someone who nagged that much."  
  
Emma smiled. "I think Adam could arrange that. Come on."  
  
*  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi Brennan," Emma said.  
  
"So, Jesse said you met another mutant when you went to Adam's house?"  
  
Emma smiled. "Yeah."  
  
"What happened?" Brennan asked, smiling too as leaned back against the fridge.  
  
"Adam's parents died last year. He lives with his twin sister Rebecca who looks absolutely nothing like him, even for a girl. When we went there two of her friends were over."  
  
"And one of them is a mutant?"  
  
"The girl." Emma grinned.  
  
"Why do I get the feeling there's more to it?" Brennan asked.  
  
Emma kept smiling. "Adam was afraid of not being accepted, but he was. They both are. They're lucky to have people like that. Plus, she likes him. And he likes her too."  
  
Brennan nodded. "So it's like, the first happily ever after for mutants?"  
  
Emma shook off feeling sorry for herself again and back to feeling happy for Adam. "Something like that."  
  
"You know," Brennan added just as Emma was about to leave, "Jesse seemed kind of pestered when he came out of the car."  
  
Emma smiled again. "The girl's name is Jesse."  
  
"So they're like 'Adam & Jesse'?" Brennan asked.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I'm guessing from the look on Jesse's face that you didn't let him forget that?"  
  
Emma grinned, which Brennan took to mean as 'no.'  
  
He smiled back and walked away. Emma stood silently, watching him. She debated in her head whether or not to call out to him. The she saw him meet Shalimar and them both giggle and go inside his room. Emma fell back down in her seat, frowning.  
  
A/N: I wrote this ages ago except for the last 5 lines which I just wrote (as I found this incomplete. Only one more chapter to go and I'll do my best to post it soon! (I promise!) 


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